Putting The Happy In Happy New Year!

Being happy is at the top of my list of priorities for 2018, not only because being happy is great for my health and wellbeing but also because being happy is important in helping me to achieve my goals and ambitions both personally and professionally. But it’s not just about me, happiness is infectious and if I’m happy and positive this has a positive impact on my family, my loved ones and those I work with too.

We’re all very different and different things make us happy. Just as we need to identify triggers that cause us stress or lead us to be unhappy it’s just as important to identify what makes us happy and then make sure we do more of it!

Here are five ways that can help us put the happy in our happy new year!

Gratitude Journal

One of the easiest ways to identify what makes us happy is by keeping a gratitude journal. We’re all human and it’s a very human reaction to concentrate on all the things that are going wrong in our life but while we do this we tend to overlook all the good in our lives. A gratitude journal can help us focus on all the good stuff.

Some people can be put off by gratitude journals, ‘what if I can’t think of three things that made me happy’, ‘what if I keep repeating the same things I’m grateful for.’ I was a little like that, I used to start a journal then after a few weeks give up because I felt I should be writing something new and wonderful everyday and when I wasn’t able to it made me think, oh wow, am I really that sad that I can’t think of anything that has made me happy today. This put pressure on me that kind of defeated the whole purpose of keeping a journal in the first place!

It really doesn’t matter how often you write in your journal, you don’t need to keep a journal every day, you can jot down two or three things that made you smile or you are grateful for a couple of times a week or you can jot things down as and when they happen, this is what I do now and it’s a lovely feeling to read back on all the things that made me smile.

“Do what you love and do it often”

This is one of my favourite quotes and it’s a bit of a no brainer really isn’t it? If something makes you feel happy why would you not do it more?

Go to that exercise class you love, meet up with friends, go back and read that favourite book or watch a movie that makes you laugh. Listen to your favourite music, go dancing or take a day out and go to the spa and just chill out … Do what makes YOU happy!

De-clutter

Ok, this is a bit of a strange one but it really does help. De-cluttering is a great way to get rid of the rubbish in your life that you don’t need so you can make some room for all the good stuff. I don’t know about you but I feel a great sense of achievement when I’ve cleared out my wardrobes, or filed all my emails, there’s a lot to be said about an empty inbox 🙂

Practice random acts of kindness

When I think of practicing random acts of kindness I’m always reminded of a quote by Leo. F. Buscaglia

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

What more can I say? Even the simplest act of smiling at a complete stranger could brighten someone else’s day and this simple gesture could make you feel really good too.

Spend time with a friend and loved ones

You would think that this would be at the top of our list and the one thing we would do all the time but more often than not it’s the last thing we do. We get so caught up in our busy lives that we often neglect the people who mean the most to us and who make us the happiest. So, catch up with the people who mean a lot to you, whether it’s meeting up for a coffee, sending a text or email or chatting on the phone. You’ll be amazed how happy this will make you feel!

Above all, don’t put things off until tomorrow. Live life to the full and live in the moment ‘for this moment is our life’

Happy New Year!